Etymology
The English word ginseng derives from the Chinese term rénshēn (simplified: 人参; traditional: 人蔘). Rén means "man" and shēn means a kind of herb; this refers to the root's characteristic forked shape, which resembles the legs of a man. The English pronunciation derives from a southern Chinese reading, similar to Cantonese yun sum (Jyutping: jan4sam1) and the Hokkien pronunciation "jîn-sim".
The botanical/genus name Panax means "all-heal" in Greek, sharing the same origin as "panacea", and was applied to this genus because Linnaeus was aware of its wide use in Chinese medicine as a muscle relaxant.
Besides P. ginseng, many other plants are also known as or mistaken for the ginseng root. The most commonly known examples are xiyangshen, also known as American ginseng 西洋参 (P. quinquefolius), Japanese ginseng 东洋参 (P. japonicus), crown prince ginseng 太子參 (Pseudostellaria heterophylla), and Siberian ginseng 刺五加 (Eleutherococcus senticosus). Although all have the name ginseng, each plant has distinctively different functions. However, true ginseng plants belong only to the Panax genus.
| Ginseng (generic term) |
| Chinese name |
| Traditional Chinese |
人蔘 or 人參 |
| Simplified Chinese |
人参 |
| Transcriptions |
| Hakka |
| - Romanization |
ngin11 sem24 |
| Mandarin |
| - Hanyu Pinyin |
rén shēn |
| - Bopomofo |
ㄖㄣˊ ㄙㄣ |
| Min |
| - Hokkien POJ |
jîn-sim; lîn-sim |
| Wu |
| - Romanization |
zen平 sen平 |
| Cantonese (Yue) |
| - Jyutping |
jan4sam1 |
|
| Vietnamese name |
| Quốc ngữ |
Nhân Sâm |
| Korean name |
| Hangul |
인삼 |
| Hanja |
人蔘 |
| Transcriptions |
- Revised
Romanization |
in-sam |
- McCune-
Reischauer |
in sam |
|
| Japanese name |
| Kanji |
朝鮮人参 |
| Kana |
ちょうせんにんじん |
| Transcriptions |
| - Romanization |
chōsen ninjin |
|
| Ginseng species |
| Chinese name |
| Traditional Chinese |
人蔘屬 |
| Simplified Chinese |
人参属 |
| Transcriptions |
| Hakka |
| - Romanization |
ngin11 sem24 sug5 |
| Mandarin |
| - Hanyu Pinyin |
rén sēn shǔ |
| - Bopomofo |
ㄖㄣˊ ㄙㄣ ㄕㄨˇ |
| Min |
| - Hokkien POJ |
jîn-sim-sio̍k |
| Wu |
| - Romanization |
zen平 sen平 tsoh入 |
| Cantonese (Yue) |
| - Jyutping |
jan4sam1suk6 |
|
| Korean name |
| Hangul |
인삼속 |
| Hanja |
人蔘屬 |
| Transcriptions |
- Revised
Romanization |
in-sam-sok |
- McCune-
Reischauer |
in sam sok |
|
| Japanese name |
| Kanji |
トチバニンジン属 |
| Transcriptions |
| - Romanization |
tochibaninjin zoku |
|